Turner's Public Spirit,
A look back in time to a century ago
By Bob Oliphant
Center. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gumb motored to Gov. Baxter’s Island, off Yarmouth, on the coast of Maine, last week Thursday, remaining over the weekend. While there they attended the graduation of their granddaughter, Miss Edna Clements, who was one of the honor pupils of her class. On the return trip they visited the old Weeks homestead at Greenland, N.H., which is the oldest brick house in New Hampshire, having been built in 1638[1]. Mrs. Gumb is a direct descendant of the family.
Mrs. Charles Campbell [nee Knight] and daughter Virginia, of Hudson, N.H., and Alfred Knight, of South Royalton, Vt., have been recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Knight.
Among the graduates of the four-year course at the Annapolis naval academy on June 4 was Richard Swan Baron, of Lowell. Mr. Baron is a brother of Mrs. Edward M. Abbot. Ensign Baron has been assigned to the U.S.S. Utah and will report for duty at the Charlestown navy yard on June 30.
Miss Edna Clements, of Maine, is spending the summer at the home of her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gumb.
Miss Ruth Fisher, of Providence high school faculty, has sailed for a trip abroad, returning next November. While abroad she will take a course in English history at Oxford.
Miss Gladys Ingalls, who was in town for the graduation exercises, has returned to Bridgewater, Conn.
Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Abbot and son Robert spent the weekend at their camp at Chebacco Island, Essex.
Mrs. Ralph Fletcher has been entertaining her father, whose home is in Ausable Forks, N.Y.
The Ladies’ Aid met at the home of Mrs. Perry Shupe, Thursday, June 12, for an all-day meeting. A bountiful dinner was served at noon, of which twenty members partook, four others attending in the afternoon. At the business meeting arrangements were made for an outing to be held at a future date.
Graduation Exercises. The graduation exercises of Westford academy were held in the town hall on Wednesday morning, the program being as follows: March and overture, school orchestra; invocation, Rev. Edward D. Disbrow; salutatory, Elliot F. Humiston, Jr.; chorus, “The moonlight trail,” school; salutatory essay, “The relation of chemistry to industry,” Elliot F. Humiston, Jr.; chorus, “Happy birds” and “Birdland symphony,” girls glee club; presentation of class gift, Alice B. Socorelis; acceptance of class gift, Elizabeth Prinn, class of 1925; violin solo, Albert Eaton; address, Rev. John Davis, New Britain, Conn.; chorus, “When de banjo plays,” school; essay, with valedictory, “Every day uses of the radio,” Francis B. Jarvis; presentation of prizes and diplomas, Principal W. C. Roudenbush; Class song (written by Ethel E. Ingalls), the graduating class; selection, orchestra.
The graduating class was as follows: *Dorothy Hilda Anderson, Harold Russell Anderson, Gerald Francis Desmond, Ada Marea Eaton, Emma Sophia Goucher, ‡Olive Mae Hanson, Edward Francis Harrington, *Elliot Flagg Humiston, Jr., *Ethel Evelyn Ingalls, *Francis Bishop Jarvis, *Catherine Veronica Payne, Nathaniel Howard Phillips, *Alice Bertha Socorelis, Richard Albert Wall—*elected to Pro Merito Society of Secondary Schools; ‡certificate.
Class motto, “No victory without labor”; class colors, green and gold; class flower, lily of the valley.
The following are the winners of prizes: Public speaking (given by Alumni), Doris York ’27, 1st, $10; Roger Hildreth ’26, 2nd, $5; honorable mention, Hazel Sweetser ’25. Class prize for general excellence in scholarship, conduct and attendance (given by trustees), awarded to class of 1925, $25. Washington and Franklin Bronze medal for excellence in United States history (given by the Massachusetts Society of Sons of the American Revolution), awarded to Francis Bishop Jarvis.
Children’s Day. Children’s day was observed at the Union Congregational church on last Sunday. A large congregation enjoyed the program which began with a march by about sixty children, each wearing a small American flag. The rest of the program was as follows: Chorus, school; recitations, Roger Bosworth, Rita Edwards, Kenneth Smith; dialogue, Kenneth Smith, Gordon Whitney and Howard Whitney; song, Phyllis Wright; recitation, Ruth Hanscom; dialogue, Elaine Cram, Charlotte Foster and Helen Sullivan; song, seven little girls; recitation, William Prescott; exercise, Olive Hanscom; recitation, Harold Wright; exercise, Mrs. Shupe’s class; song, junior chorus; recitations, Ruth Nesmith, George Mann; song, Mrs. Disbrow’s class; exercises, Mrs. Felch’s class and Raymond Shea’s class; recitation, Viola Day.
The offering was taken by four boys of the Sunday school, Harold Wright, Howard Anderson, Merl Foster and Herbert Ingalls.
Preceding the program Rev E. D. Disbrow baptized a baby, Harriet Anna Mann, daughter of Mrs. Mabel Mann. As the little one was brought to the altar Mrs. Disbrow’s class sang an appropriate selection.
The program was in charge of Mrs. Perry Shupe, Mrs. J. K. Felch and Miss Mabel Prescott, and assistants. Miss Pamelia Precious presided at the organ and Miss Edith A. Wright at the piano.
The church was beautifully decorated with cut flowers, ferns and potted plants, the Misses Atwood being in charge of the same.
About Town. The graduating exercises of Westford academy in the town hall on Wednesday was just one inspiring outing for youth and age. The program, as printed and carried out, was a feast of wit, wisdom and workable daily sense, and the music, instrumental and songful, was a grand and glorious rally of the spirit, especially the closing song, “How dear to our hearts are the scenes of our school days, when fond recollections bring classmates to view,” sung to the tune of “The old oaken bucket.” Its inspiration sent us all kiting back to the reminiscences of youth who have long since hoisted the anchor of youth, and to those who are still in the glee tide of youth it was a stimulating inspiration to service in school days.
We were so glad to hear from V.T.E. [Vernon T. Esten, a Littleton correspondent to Turner’s Public Spirit] again in all of his original freshness and fairness. It was so long since hearing from him that some of us began to feel that he might have become an “emeritus.” Well, now, see here, V.T.E., don’t think of such a condition as “emeritus” as long as you have got an idea in your head that is worth the radio to broadcast it. Your last broadcasting was a broadside of truth and much as I dislike the conditions that make me agree with you, I much prefer your company to the company of some who are so disgustingly aristocratic in their inherited blood that they have no use for plain people like Cal Coolidge, who is a true type of the plain everyday working people. He is reported to have said, “I shall make no speeches this summer.” Good, no one will lose any votes nor sleep by it. Let us hope that he will stick to it, for it’s the most sensible speech he has made since the death of President Harding.
William E. Wright picked the first box of strawberries in town on Monday. Fine! I am so pleased that those Stony Brook fellows, who are always telling how forward and smart they are, got beat.
Arthur J. O’Brien has bought the James H. O’Brien farm on the Stony Brook road.
Charles D. Wright has been painting the cottage house of Mrs. Graves on the Lowell road, near Westford station.
The Morning Glory farm is having Lowell parties shingling the hay-horse barn on the Lowell road.
Say, boys and girls of the eleventh representative district, is it not about time to be setting our thinking apparatus into play to decide what town is to send a representative the coming two years? In glancing over the district I got off at Littleton. What say you?
The next meeting of the Reading Circle will take place on Friday, June 27, at 2:30 o’clock in the J. V. Fletcher library. Members note the change of day. The four-act play, “The easiest way,” by Eugene Walter will be read. [The play is available online at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13050.]
On last week Wednesday morning there was a heavy frost at Chelmsford Center and potatoes, tomatoes and beans all went down for a K.O. At the Walter Otis Day farm at the intersection of Cold Spring and Graniteville roads, water froze thicker than window glass in the drinking vessels at his extensive poultry houses. At Chelmsford Center, it may be added, the frost cool wave dropped to 27°.
The F. A. Snows had their first home-grown strawberry last Saturday. There were nine to supper and all had one-ninth of a strawberry each. Being a witness to the one-ninth division I feel like taking the witness stand in cross rebuttal, being inclined to be cross to think that the Old Oaken Bucket got beat on first strawberry. But for all this first throw down instead of show down, we are encouraged by the thought that we are loaded with green goods and will come in strong when the weather gets het up enough to make ripe strawberries instead of skating.
West Chelmsford was visited by another fire on last week Wednesday morning at about 3:15, which destroyed the barn of Mrs. Keenan, together with a Ford machine owned by her son. The local firemen responded but the building was a mass of flames when discovered, and the firemen gave their attention to preventing the spread of the fire to the Keenan house and other nearby dwellings which were threatened. The North Chelmsford fire department was called and assisted in preventing the flames spreading to other closeby buildings. The fire was discovered by one of the Miner children across the road from the fire, the child having been awakened by the glare of the flames in the sleeping room. From the circumstances as developed it seems probable that the fire was one of those West Chelmsford incendiary fires. The Keenan family will be remembered as living in Westford a few years ago on the farm now owned by Andrew G. Anderson, at Brookside, on the Lowell road.
At the open meeting of West Chelmsford Grange on last week Thursday evening Stanley L. Snow [aged 10 months, Samuel L. Taylor’s grandson] was one of the entertainers.
Mrs. Alexander F. Courtney, who has been living at Brookside since the death of her husband, has returned to her farm, the Trueworthy Keyes place, on Frances hill, and the Clement family have vacated for West Chelmsford.
The funeral of William A. Wright, formerly of this town, was held at his home in North Chelmsford on last week Wednesday afternoon. Hugh Thorpe, of Brighton, officiated. Appropriate selections were sung at the home and cemetery. The bearers were Walter and Elijah Brake, Arthur de Carteret, John Truby, James and George Spence. Interment was in the family lot in Westlawn cemetery.
David Billson, foreman for the H. E. Fletcher Co., Oak Hill, while driving Mr. Fletcher’s automobile last Saturday night on Andover street, Lowell, ran over Fred White of the Trull road, North Tewksbury. He immediately stopped his machine, and with the aid of Chester Runnels and others, the unfortunate man was picked up and taken to St. John’s hospital, where he died late in the evening. Mr. Billson, in reporting the case, said the man was walking in the road and the blinding headlight of an on-coming machine made it impossible to see the unfortunate man until the machine struck him. Mr. White was a former A.E.F. man, having served overseas with Company M, 3rd Infantry. He leaves his wife, Mary (Berard) White; a son, Wilfred; a sister, Mrs. Della Bilodsan, and a brother, Eli White. Mr. Billson is known as an exceptionally careful driver, and is well known in Brookside and West Chelmsford, where he formerly lived.
Crop Reports. The condensed crop reports to June seem to be more optimistic than our cold, sunless, icy weather would go bonds for. “In spite of a chilly, backward season and some other discouragements New England farmers are going ahead with plans for crop acreages in most cases up to usual. Over a long period the acreage in hay shows considerable decrease. Aside from being late the hay crop promises good yields and with warmer weather and a continuation of present moisture may easily turn out a big crop generally.” As crop reporter for the government I wish to enter a minority report. Observation and testimony are unanimous that the hay crop in this region promises to be the lightest in many a year. Time will prove who is right. “Pastures in New Hampshire and Vermont are late and poor, but elsewhere are but little below the average.” By “but little below the average” they mean an acre of land that will pasture two grasshoppers. We fully agree with them that it does not average below that yet, neither does it average above that or ever did very much for any noticeable length of time, and the sad pity of it is that so much valuable land that should have been preserved to lumber to grow us cheaper houses has been cleared for bushes and briars called pasture. It can wheel more food value into the barn in fifteen minutes than the average cow can get in twenty-four hours and walking twenty-four miles.
“Home gardens and market gardens show the effect of the chilly, late season in being much behind usual development, and growth is yet mostly slow.” The facts of nature on this statement are so incontrovertible that no one has any courage to but [sic] in with a minority report.
“Present prospects for apples are best in New England, with prospects of 89% of a crop as against 71% of a crop in the United States. Thus the poorest outlook is in box apple states, running as low as 55% in Idaho and 60% in Illinois. Rhode Island and Connecticut report good prospects for peaches, but Massachusetts and New Hampshire are unpromising. Pears in New England promise from 80 to 90% of a crop.” Some folks would like to know if they are all growing on pear trees or are some of them growing on some of Luther Burbank’s cross between pear, plum and apple?
An Explanation. Many times we have been asked why we set such a crooked row of crooked apple trees on the Lowell road, between the Old Oaken Bucket farm and the Morning Gory farm. Listen to the findings as the facts record it. More than sixty years ago there was only a narrow, crooked road that connected the Stony Brook road with the Capt. Samuel Law [maternal grandfather of Samuel Law Taylor, the author of this item] place, where Amos Polley now lives, and terminated there. When just prior to the civil war the county commissioners laid the present county road they straightened up this crooked road and crooked wall, which left the present row of trees crooked. Nonsense, we had not been violating the eighteenth amendment when we set this row of trees as someone hinted at recently. I recall that a very large blue pearmain [sic, Adams Pearmain] apple tree, being in the way of the new and wider road, had to be cut down. Here, under this tree, as a boy, I learned and loved to hear the birds sing and encore, the woodchucks as they played the game of delight with the neighbors’ beans and peas while I ate apples whose sweet, peculiar taste still lingers and the lingering was revived recently when someone gave me two blue pearmain apples, the first that I have had next to my palate since those early palate days.
Church Notes. First church (Unitarian)—Sunday service at 4 p.m. Music by chorus choir. Solo, “The voice in the wilderness,” Scott, Miss Eleanor S. Colburn, soprano. Preacher, Rev. Frank B. Crandall, the minister. Subject, “The parable of the stagnant pool.”
Among those from the parish who attended the North Middlesex conference at Littleton last week were Miss Mary G. Balch, Mrs. L. H. Buckshorn, Mrs. Fred Burbeck, Miss Grace Burbeck, Miss Mary Burbeck, Miss A. Mabel Drew, Mrs. John Feeney, Miss Eva Fletcher, Miss Julia Fletcher, Mrs. J. Herbert Fletcher, Mrs. H. V. Hildreth, Miss Alice Howard, Miss Grace Lawrence, Mrs. Alec McDougal [sic], Miss Plummer, Mrs. Benjamin Prescott, Mrs. Charles W. Robinson and the minister.
On Sunday the preacher will deal with practical effects in human psychology, of indolence, conservatism and exclusiveness as these traits are seen at work in business, society, politics and religion.
Federation Meeting. The North Middlesex Federation of Y.P.R.U. [Young People’s Religious Union, a Unitarian Church youth organization] societies met on Saturday at Westford at the First Parish church with the Westford Y.P.R.U. as hosts. About one hundred young people from Ayer, Chelmsford, Groton, Lowell, Nashua and Tyngsboro attended the meeting.
The forenoon session opened at 10:30 with an address of welcome by Rev. Frank B. Crandall, the minister. Philip Gatz of Nashua, president of the Federation, presided. It was voted to hold each year two meetings, a business meeting in the fall and an outing or field day in the spring. The next meeting will be held on the first Saturday of November at Nashua. The speaker was Rev. Albert Dieffenbach[2], D.D., editor of the Christian Register, whose subject was “The value of religion.” A discussion followed. The session closed with a devotional service led by Fisher Buckshorn.
The dinner was held in the vestry at one. Members of the Westford Alliance and Y.P.R.U. served.
The afternoon program began with an entertainment, a sketch, entitled “A half-hour at the movies.” The sketch, which was written by Miss Mary Balch, proved highly popular with the audience. Those who took part were Miss Balch, Mrs. Arthur G. Hildreth, Misses Elizabeth Carver, Elizabeth Wells and Betty Prescott, Laurence Ingalls and William Watson. Dancing followed, continuing until half past four.
Graniteville. The Malden team defeated the Abbot Worsted team here in a Greater Boston Twilight league game on Tuesday evening, 3 to 2. The Abbots play the Millstreams of Chelsea on Saturday afternoon at three o’clock. On Sunday the Abbots will play at Valley Falls, R.I.
Many from here attended the graduation exercises of the Westford academy that were held in the town hall on Wednesday, and the graduation ball that was held in the evening was also largely attended.
The members of the Ladies’ Aid society and the Graniteville Brotherhood staged a big carnival on the Methodist church lawn on Thursday and Friday evenings. The program included sports of all kinds, band concert by the Abbot Worsted Company band, doll dodgers and all the novelties that go with an up-to-date outdoor carnival.
Joseph Wall, of Cambridge, has been a recent guest of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Wall.
Townsend
Change of Teachers. Supt. John Bacon of the high school reports that there will be a number of vacancies on the teacher’s staff at the close of this year as at a recent meeting of the school board the resignations of the following teachers were read: Principal John H. Bachelder, Rev. William H. Hodge of Townsend, Miss Carolyn Precious of Forge Village and Miss Ada Deal of Cambridge, all teachers in the high school. …
Miss Carolyn Precious of Forge Village, also a graduate of Boston University, has served as teacher of English and supervisor of music at the high school for the past two years and will be greatly missed by the community as well as the student side of school life and has been very efficient as an organizer, especially along musical lines, and her talent has been cheerfully used in many of the social affairs of the town, where she will be greatly missed.
Littleton
News Items. Miss Ruth Nesmith, of Westford, is visiting her sister, Mrs. George Hartwell [nee Marion M. Woodbury, a half-sister], Mill road.
Ayer
News Items. Mrs. Charles McLean attended the graduation exercises at Westford academy in Westford last Wednesday, her cousin, Richard Wall, being one of the graduates.
Seven students from the vicinity of Ayer were among those who received degrees at the fifty-first annual commencement of Boston University held Monday in Symphony hall, Boston. … Mildred V. Precious of Forge Village [received the degree] of bachelor of arts.
Real Estate Transfers. The following real estate transfers have been recorded from this vicinity recently:
Westford—Claude L. Allen to Joseph Bechard et al., land on Sand Beach road; Amide Cote to Stephen Kovalcheck, land on Maple street; Eleanor L. Fletcher estate by conservator to Oscar R. Spalding; Mary E. Heywood estate by trustee to Oscar R. Spalding; Elizabeth C. Hildreth et al. to Oscar R. Spalding.
[1] “The Weeks Brick House, built in 1710 by Samuel Weeks (1670-1746), is among the earliest brick houses in New England — and may be the oldest made of bricks fired on the site. The farmstead established in 1656 by Leonard Weeks (1633-1707) remained in the family for over 300 years. Today the 33-acre farmstead includes conservation land laced with hiking trails for public enjoyment. Saved from development in 1975, the house and grounds have been owned and managed since then by an all-volunteer non-profit organization of descendants and friends from near and far, Leonard Weeks and Descendants in America, Inc.” https://weeksbrickhouse.org/.
[2] Read more about Dr. Dieffenbach at https://www.uudb.org/dieffenbach-albert-charles/.